In the final weeks of his administration, Mayor Eric Adams is laying down another political tripwire for his successor. This time, it’s at the NYPD’s oversight agency.

Adams has quietly appointed former journalist Pat Smith — a favorite of police unions and a reliably pro-law enforcement vote on the Civilian Complaint Review Board — as the CCRB’s interim chair.

While Smith is unlikely to initiate major policy shifts before Adams leaves office on Jan. 1, the appointment could create an immediate political headache for mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who campaigned on overhauling police discipline and curbing NYPD authority.

Smith’s elevation means that one of Mamdani’s first official acts could be firing him — an early, highly symbolic confrontation with police unions that have already signaled deep mistrust of the incoming mayor. Those unions signed off on Smith’s appointment, and ousting him would almost certainly set off a backlash.

Mamdani has had a strained relationship with the NYPD from the start. During the campaign, he was forced to walk back comments suggesting the CCRB — not the police commissioner — should have the final say on officer discipline. Now, his administration will begin with a CCRB chair aligned with the very institutions he has promised to rein in.

Smith, an ex-New York Post editor, was one of only three CCRB members who sided with officers in last year’s fatal shooting of Win Rozario, a mentally ill Queens man. That record has made him a reliable ally for police unions, which have openly praised his appointment.

“Pat Smith’s voting record demonstrates that he is one of the few CCRB board members willing to review cases fairly and independently,” PBA President Patrick Hendry said in a statement, urging him to “steer CCRB toward the fairness required by the City Charter.”

The CCRB appointment is the latest example of Adams shaping city institutions in ways likely to constrain Mamdani’s agenda. This fall, Adams also moved to reconstitute the Rent Guidelines Board with real-estate-friendly members — a maneuver that could delay Mamdani’s signature proposal to freeze rents for stabilized apartments, potentially for years.

Together, the late-term moves reflect a broader strategy: erect structural obstacles that complicate the progressive mayor-elect’s most ambitious plans, from housing to policing.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)